Birth by Sleep, Death by Soul
by Scourge The Hedgehog
Summary: A re-imagining of the inner battle between Vanitas and Ventus. Also has an evil ending showing what would happen if Vanitas had won. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BBS! Story is purely fan-made and is not meant to be taken as actual leaked info! Reviews appreciated!


The two warriors stand in the Pillar of Awakening.

A boy in a dark suit with his brown-eyed and black haired face revealed, looks down upon a blonde-haired boy staggering to stand.

"Well now, Ventus." Black Hair says. "Do you now see? The Darkness is paramount. Why would you want to miss out on something so thrilling?"

"Vanitas........" The blonde, named Ventus says, standing up. "Just what are you really after? Why me? What is it about me that you need so badly?"

"Two souls from the same body should not exist seperately from each other." Vanitas says. "You and I are two souls of one body. I am the Darkness, you are the Light. Now. I want to be whole. To.....be. Instead I am a mere shell."

"So what?" Ventus says. "You are you. As long as you have a life to live, nobody has the right to take that from you. Not you or I. Why can't you just be yourself?"

"It's too late for me now." Vanitas says, removing his former mask's white holder from his neck and tossing it aside. "I have the chance to become complete and I am going to take it!"

Vanitas summons his Keyblade and attacks the already weakened Ventus.

Ventus uses his agility to dodge the incoming attacks.

However, due to his weakened state, he dodges so many strikes before he's hit by a slash to the knee.

"Getting weak, I see?" Vanitas says. "Just become a part of me. Wield the fantastic power of Darkness and realize what it truly means to be a god!"

"If the power of Darkness was truly supreme, then the Keyblade Wars would have ended with the Darkness consuming all by now!" Vanitas says.

"Tch." Vanitas says.

"Besides, what does the Darkness have to offer, Vanitas?" Ventus asks, looking at Vanitas with compassionate eyes. "Power is all fine and good but without a reason, it's useless!"

Vaniotas loosk at Ventus with fury.

"How can you possibly understand?!" Vanitas says. "You know not of the greed.......the loneliness..........the uselessness that I feel being inside you .....if I were in control, the entire world would bow to my power. I can make peace for the cosmos. And all it would take is.......a rebirth!"

"No......." Ventus says, staggering. "Do you mean....an apocalypse?!"

"Well, what else?" Vanitas says. "The cosmos needs a time of tranquility. Mankind kills and rapes the planet. The Light shines over everything, causing those who view themselves as 'heroes' to rise and get themselves killed. So much death because of the Light......."

"But, the Darkness caused death, too." Ventus says. "Those alligned with the Darkness upset the natural order of things, seeking only to destroy."

"And is that so bad?" Vanita says. "That's the way the world works. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Survival of the fittest. The strong survive and the weak die. It's a universal truth. Do you seriously tjhink that compassion truly saves the world? No. Only a natural order and a single ruler can makes things right. Organize everything. Save the worlds. Thsi is what Master Xehanort wanted. But you abandoned him."

"No, this is stupid." Ventus says, returning to combat stance. "I don't care how you justifiy it. The Darkness only seeks to unmake and destroy. The Light cherishes all things. That is something you or your'e ignorant master will never understand."

"Enough of this farce!" Vanitas says, his body taking on a Dark aura as he attacks Ventus with a downward slash.

Verntus jumps backwards, avoiding the strike.

"I......will.......become......you!" Vantias says as he and Ventus clash once more.

* * *

Scenes switch to Aqua, a purple-haired girl with her own Keyblade.

Her violet dress flickers in the wind.

She is seen kneeling down to what appears to be Ventus's body, unconcious.

Ventus wakes up, a Dark aura surrounding him.

Aqua immediately jumps back and watches in horror as Ventus rises and looks at Aqua with light, golden eyes. His boyd's suit has changed to that of Vanitas's minus the white helmet-holding collar. Malice is apparent across his face.

"V-Ventus?" Aqua says.

"No........" Ventus says. "Vanitas!"

"No!" Aqua says, summoning her Keyblade.

"Where is he?!" Aqua asks. "What have tyou done with himn?!"

"He is part of the Darkness now." Vanitas says. "And now, I'll kill you for Master Xehanort!"

"Dark" Ventus summons the X-Blade and lunges at Aqua, laugjhing maniacally.

* * *

Scenes switch to the Awakening.

Ventus and Vanitas are seen attacking each other with acrobatic flips and slashes to keep themselves airbourne.

The two eventually land and back away from each other, both having apparent wounds.

They breathe heavily, awaiting the other's attack.

* * *

**Remember I said that this fic would have two endings? Well, here's the true ending first.....**

**

* * *

**

Vanitas jumps into the air and summons a Dark fireball much like Riku's ability in Re:CoM.

"Aerial Atrocity!" Vanitas says, shooting the fireball at Ventus. "Go forth and anihilate all things!"

Ventus summons his Keyblade and slices straight through the fireball.

However, the firball spilts into two energies which target themselves at Ventus.

Ventus then proceeds to cut them down, only to be attacked in the back by Vanitas.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aqua is battling Dark Ventus.

"Ven!" Aqua shouts while blocking swipes from the X-Blade. "You have to fight him! Don't let him get to you! You are you!"

"Sorry....." Vanitas says to Aqua, "This time I'm in control. Ventus can't hear you. And soon, he'll be a part of me."

Aqua is then knocked back by a shockwave that Dark Ventus summons.

She falls to the ground, staggering to move.

Dark Ven immobilizes her with his foot and raises his blade for the killing strike.

* * *

Now, Ventus and Vanitas' fight reaches it's climax point.

Ventus keeps dodging the swipes from the X-Blade and jumps back.

"Wing Blade! Come to me!" Ven shouts.

Ven directs the wind swords that are summoned at Vanitas, who dodges them with great effort.

However, one of the swords graze him, causing him fall back and stagger.

Ven then immediately starts repeatedly attacking Vanitas with them, causing him to get on the defensive.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aqua manages to hit Dark Ven with her Keyblade, but suffers a kick to the joints by the boy.

This causes her to fall down onto the ground, staggering.

She tries to get up, but is immobilized by Dark's foot.

"Ven!" Aqua says. "Please................"

Dark Ven raises the X-Blade and attempts to bring it into her heart.

"I claim your life!" He shouts.

However, in the Awakening, Vanitas is attacked by Ven's Wing Blade, damaging the mental link between the possessed body and Vanitas's soul.

"No!" Dark Ven says, kneeling on one foot due to his mind being assaulted.

Aqua jumps back and re-summons her Keyblade.

Dark Ven gets onto one knee and clutches his head.

"That's it, Ven!" Aqua shouts. "You can do it! Fight him!"

The spinning swords return to and then swirl around Ventus.

"No, Vanitas." Ventus says. "I will never give you my heart!"

"Well then I'll destroy it!" Vanitas says.

Vanitas completely envelops his body in Darkness and lunges at Ven, who then proceeds to reply in kind.

The Light and Darkness that the two wield collide and then explode very brightly.

The light subsides, and Vanitas falls to the ground on his stomach.

In the real world, Dark Ven's body falls lifelessly to the ground.

Aqua then gets up and goes to the body, clutching Ven's body.

"Ven?" Aqua asks. "Ven?!"

Vanitas looks at Ventus with sad eyes.

"Don't you know what you've done?!" Vanitas asks.

Ventus then takes on a pink-ish glow and falls to his knees, his Wing Blades de-materializing.

"W-What?" Ventus says.

"You idiot!" Vanitas says. "Since I'm going to die, so will you. I am your'e Darkness! You are my Light! One cannot exist without the other!"

"No!" Ventus says. "Not here! Not now!"

"Now do you see why I wanted to be in control?!" Vanitas says. "I just wanted to be whole."

"I know." Ventus says, standing upright and beginning to fade, too. "I wanted that, too. But your methods were wrong."

"Hey, was I wrong to want that?" Vanitas asks Ventus with a sad tone. "Was my faith misplaced?"

"No." Ventus says. "We both..........did what we thought was right......."

"It's ok." Vanitas says, the bottom half of his body completely out of exsistence. "But what about you?! You're going to die now!"

Aqua cluthes Ven's body as the pink-ish glow extends onto the body outside the Awakening.

"Where do we go now?" Vanitas asks.

"I don't know......" Ven says. "I really didn't want to fight you........."

"Hey............Thanks for not giving up on me......" Vanitas says, the rest of his body becoming transparent. Waht's left begins to fall to the ground.

"No!" Ventus says, running over to Vanitas's body.

Ventus tries to catch the body, but it breaks apart into several orbs that fly into the sky of the Awakening.

A voice echoes throughout the Awakening and grows fainter by the second.

_"Thank you, Ventus...................I'm glad that I could hear the.............. kind words.............. of someone else......One.......last..........Time......................."_

"Vanitas!?" Ven shouts. "Vanitas!"

Ven's conciousness return to the body that Aqua is seen clutching.

He opens his eyes and looks at the blue-haired girl.

"Ven?!" Aqua says. "What's going on?!"

"I'm not long for this world." Ven says, coughing.

The pink glow becomkes brighter slightly.

"Ven?!" Aqua shouts.

Ven raises his hand to the air and summons his Keyblade, pointing it up at the sky.

"Oh, Keyblade!" Ven shouts. "My Heart will soon leave this body. Please, find the one worthy of it and allow him or her to wield your power!"

"Ven?!" Aqua shouts again. "What are you saying?!"

The Keyblade disappears and Ven looks at Aqua.

"Hey, remember whan I told you to 'erase me?'" Ven asks Aqua. "Well, that was the stu[idesat thing I have ever said. My life in this world was shorter than I thought. Thank you for being my friend, Aqua. Oh, and I kept this."

Ven begins to fade out of existence.

Aqua sobs heavily as the body she was holdingbegins to fade away in a flash of pink light, becoming transparent.

Ven looks at Aqua and give her a heavy smile before the body fades completely, orbs circling it.

The Paopu Fruit Charm she gave Ven falls to the ground, nothing supporting it.

She picks up the body in her arms and proceeds to take it elsewhere, a tear falling from her cheek.

* * *

**Now here's the tragic one.**

* * *

The spinning swords return to and then swirl around Ventus.

"No, Vanitas." Ventus says. "I will never give you my heart!"

"Well then I'll destroy it!" Vanitas says.

Vanitas completely envelops his body in Darkness and lunges at Ven, who then proceeds to reply in kind.

The Light and Darkness that the two wield collide and then explode very brightly.

The light subsides, and Ventus falls to the ground face-first.

Vanitas then summons Darkness into his hand and unleashes it upon Ventus.

"AAAAAAGGGHHHH!" Ventus screams as he is consumed by the Darkness.

Ventus's body turns to white orbs that Vanitas then absorbs.

The Awakening is engulfed in a bright light as Vanitas' conicousness enters Ven's body.

Aqua is seen shouting.

"Ven?" Aqua asks. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." Ventus answers with Vanitas' voice.

He turn to face Aqua with an evil smile.

"It's me."

Aqua summons her Keyblade as she looks at Vanitas with rage beyond his understanding.

"What-?" Aqua shouts. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH VENTUS?!"

"He has returned to the Darkness." Vanitas replies. "As hard as it tries, all Light will eventually be consumed by the Darkness like your friend was."

Vanitas summons the X-Blade.

A Pink-ish glow emanates from the X-Blade as parts from Ven's former Keyblade take shape onto the X-Blade.

The gold Blade from the old X-Blade takes the form of the "Teeth" from Ven's.

Vanitas then enters combat position in Ventus's previous combat stance.

"Now......." Vanitas says. "Be sacrificed to the Darkness and grant me power!"

Aqua jumps back as Vanitas tries to stab her in the heart.

She forms a barrier of rotating Thundaga spells as he rushes toward her.

Vanitas's newfound speed leaves afterimages.

While his illusion is still running toward her, Vanitas leaps behind Aqua's forcefield and throws his Keyblade into thr field, hitting Aqua directly in the back.

The forcefield spurts out as Aqua is knocked down to the ground.

She staggers upright and a rainbow glow emanates from her Keyblde.

"I don't care who you are or what you desire......." Aqua yells. "You will die here!"

A rainbow illusory sword is seen atop her Keyblade as she chants.

"An attack with Light in seven colors!" She chants bringing the sword downupon Vanitas, who blocks it with the X-Blade.

The glow becomes brighter and more powerful as she crashes the illusory sword upon the X-Blade repeatedly.

"Attack! Attack! Attack!" She shouts as Vanitas tries his hardest to block.

She then spreads the glow to her entire body.

"A spiraling light whirlwind, a rainbow attack, again!" She shouts.

She then spins at high-speed, bringing her entire body upon Vanitas as one giant rainbow-colored buzzsaw.

He bareky manages to move out of the way, his leg grazed.

"No!" Aqua pouts. "Why didn't it connect?!"

"Hmph." Vanitas says. "I told you before. The Light will be consumed."

Vanitas then moves toward her at high-speed.

She3 tries to block, but he is way too fast.

She is impaled upon the X-Blade, blood flowing from her body.

"Why?" She says, coughing up blood. "All I wanted was to be with them. Why did this have to happen?"

Her coughing becomes more frequent as she begins to feel woozy from blood loss.

"I.....just wanted...... to be with.........Terra and Ventus......one last time.........Why.........?"

She then passes on.

Vanitas slashes with the X-Blade downwards, her body falling off the blade and lying on the floor in a bloody mess.

"At last, I am whole." Vanitas says. "At last.......I am!"

Vanitas, now in Ventus' body, dematerializes the X-Blade and walk away, laughing the whole time.

He eventually makes his way to the Keyblade Graveyard, where he sees Master Xehanort standing in the center.

"You have returned to me, Ventus." Master Xehanort says, turning his back to Vanitas.

"Yes, Master......." Vanitas answers. "I have."

An evil grin spreads across Vanitas' new face as a dark aura is seen across his body's hand.

"What is on your mind?" Master Xehanort asks.

"Oh, nothing...." Vanitas says. "Just doing some extermination."

Vanitas summons the X-Blade and plunges it into Xehanort's body.

The Dark powers from Xehanort are absorbed into Vanitas' system.

"Traitor!" Xehanort yells as he passes on, his body growing limp and lifeless.

"No......" Vanitas says as he absorbs the last of Xehanort's power.

"Ruler....................."


End file.
